In the months before Christopher Paolini wrote the book that made him a star in young adult fantasy, he built a hobbit hole. His family self-published the book, and for more than a year, he promoted it as he could, hand-selling copies outside bookstores and giving presentations at schools. Eventually, Carl Hiaasen, a best-selling novelist, picked up a self-published copy at a grocery store while on a family trip to Montana. His stepson — who, according to Hiaasen, said “Eragon” was “better than Harry Potter!” — finished the 500-page book in a day. Hiaasen passed the book to his editor at Random House Children’s Books, connecting Paolini to the New York publishing world.

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Persons: Christopher Paolini, He’d, he’d, — Leo Tolstoy, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, ” Paolini, wasn’t, ”, Eragon, Carl Hiaasen, —, Hiaasen, Eragon ”, Harry Potter, ” — Organizations: Random, New Locations: Paradise Valley, Mont, Montana, Paolini, New York